AWARD winning author Michael Tierney says the UAE has become as familiar to him as Glasgow and Edinburgh, and spent most of his time writing his new book there.

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Michael Tierney playing football in Dubai

I REMEMBER my debut for the Scotland football team.

Yes, it’s a little known fact that I represented my country. Full-ish honours, no actual cap.

The match was in 1996 in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, and the teams were made up mostly from teachers, ex-military types, engineers, oil and gas workers and yours truly.

The scalding temperature, unlike anything I have ever experienced, was not enough to prevent me from scoring a beauty against the Auld Enemy and the older I get the better it was.

Sadly, we suffered a miserable defeat. Teachers Mark and Adrian, who would later become brothers-in-law, one from each side of Hadrian’s Wall, played in the match too.

At the time they were living there and that’s where they met my some of my sister’s. I have five. Four were working out there. The twins stayed.

Since then the UAE has become a hugely important part of my life, and my siblings too. It’s almost 25 years since I first visited and, more than two decades later, I’m still lured back to the sand, sun and souks of this delightful Arab sheikhdom.

Throughout this time Abu Dhabi and Dubai have become as familiar, welcoming, and occasionally as distinct, as Glasgow and Edinburgh.

I go there for work and to write and, as often as possible, to watch the local football teams in stadiums with very few fans. Empty seats always helps me to feel a little closer to Scotland…

I watch Al Ain, Al Wasl or Al Wahda, whose stadium in the centre of Abu Dhabi sits next to the tired, old bus station.

Despite the abundance of incredible cars I get the bus almost everywhere when I’m there and enjoy watching the variety of travellers and workers from across the globe flitting from emirate to emirate.

Dubai before its development

Yet, in such a short space of time life has changed incredibly throughout the federation.

Once as slow paced as a camel, now there is a stunning Metro in Dubai. The Burj Khalifa stands as the tallest tower in the world. At one point I even worked on it and in six years the emirate will host Expo 2020.

Construction continues on a grand scale despite the world economic downturn and financial recession in 2008 that affected the UAE a great deal.

Dubai has unlimited potential. Abu Dhabi, while more conservative, leads the way in supporting diversification of the UAE by investing in key social infrastructure and global integration.

It was never always like this. For years we only ever travelled in sand-ridden 4x4s and battered taxis, where prices were argued and haggled with the migrant drivers by declaring ‘best price’.

Everything was settled with a smile and Insha’Allah. God willing.

The UAE was raw and undergoing a transition from the bedouin culture of the past into a flourishing, dynamic and visionary metropolis.

Getting to know the locals was hard but, over time, and with a great deal of patience I met more and more and found them amongst the most hospitable people I have ever met.

Now, the UAE has everything. Yet its not the glamour and gold that I’m drawn to. It’s the attitude of the people there, both ex-pat and Emirati. Positivity exudes from them. Decency abounds. This is a place that looks to the future.

REUTERS

The world's tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa, as it was being built in Dubai

There are, of course, things that could be better. Mistakes have been made. The wellbeing of migrant workers was never always a priority but the UAE, thankfully, is rapidly changing its approach to Workers Rights. Yet it would be impossible not to make mistakes when trying to build a nation in a generation from what was virtually a desert.

But I always believe that when I travel I should live and abide by the rules of the country I visit and not have them adapt their rules to suit me.

A few years ago I worked on a publishing project on the Burj Khalifa. The construction project brought together men and women from every corner of the globe. It was truly incredible to see the tower raise itself from the enormous concrete piles of super-strength concrete that would hold up the collosal, and quite beautiful, 828 metre building.

I was fortunate to have been allowed to stand at the very pinnacle of the tower, the actual steel spire, before attending the opening in January 2010. The tower helped me to understand how a small nation, albeit one that is very wealthy, used ambition, vision and unity to realise part of its enormous potential. Watching Emirati’s put their nation before themselves was as impressive then as it is now.

The UAE is fast, bright and edgy when it wants to be. It is also slow, considered and respectful when it needs to be.

The beautiful setting of Dubai, with the Burj Khalifa in the background

I spent the past year writing much of my new book there and it allowed me a little distance from Scotland when it was needed but also offered a helping hand from all the people I have got to know over a number of years.

There is always something happening. Government and private entities roll out new projects on a regular basis. The UAE is pushing and pushing. Abu Dhabi and Dubai especially.

The remaining five emirates are catching up, albeit much more slowly. Al Ain is a wonderful, conservative and traditional example of the Middle East in the past while planning the future.

The UAE is the region’s biggest hotel and hospitality market. The art scene is growing. It has fully embraced sectors such as finance and fashion, horse racing and publishing.

Saadiyat island, in Abu Dhabi, will be home to the Zayed National Museum, Louvre Abu Dhabi, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and Performing Arts Centre. A few more years and it will be extraordinary. I plan to write a book about it one of these days too. My Scotland goal will definitely get a mention.

• Michael's new book, The First Game With My Father, will be released on June 5th.